Chapter 163
There’s something about what I’ve said that’s attracted his attention away from what I’m doing. He opens his eyes and looks into mine. There’s a hint of curiosity beneath the fear.
“Would it help if I tell you about myself? I realize that we’re quite similar as well as very different despite having difficult pasts.”
“Did you ever know love?”
He barely whispers his question but alpha and I both hear it. I can feel the sorrow coming from alpha and I know it’s because of his question to me.
“Yes Cole. My parents were very loving. They didn’t understand my gift. My ability to feel other wolves' pain and emotions. They didn’t understand the ease at which I could defy even them. I believe they simply assumed that they had a beta or alpha when they were both deltas but my ability to defy our alpha scared them.”
“Why? The moon goddess gives all wolves the power of free will. Any wolf can defy the alpha in cases of self preservation and immoral acts against others.”
“Actually, the moon goddess causing pain to anyone who disobeys a higher rank is just a myth. I don’t know if it ever actually existed. I just know most parents of lower ranks raise their kids to believe it.”
I smile gently at alpha’s interruption as I have stopped moving my right hand on his left temple and I’ve introduced my left onto his right. He’s allowed himself to relax enough that he’s closed his eyes again and is leaning into my right hand.
“Cole, I don’t want to surprise you with where I need to touch to read you. I’m actually enjoying your reaction to me so far but I will need to touch your neck.”
I feel him tense up with a subtle whine at the thought.
“It’s not going to hurt you. Do not fight. I'm not going to stay just yet but it will calm your fears to feel what it will be this time.”
I can tell he’s getting weaker as only his adrenaline seems to be keeping him awake. I slide my fingers along his temple to the back of his head, bringing my hand down slowly until my palm is against his neck but my fingers are cradling the back of his head. Without even focusing on him, the combined touch points give me a glimpse into his body and I’m overcome with the pressure of his pain and the tingling sensation that I’ve come to know as silver. I end up staying longer than intended but the weakness I feel from him is a warning I can’t ignore.
“Cole, you’re doing extremely well with my touch. Stay still and relaxed. You are one that will feel my presence but it should not be painful or overwhelming. My touch is going to stay exactly like this.”
I lean my forehead against his as my voice becomes distant. My consciousness separates into two and half of me dives slowly into Cole.
Once again I’m immediately overwhelmed but this time I’m not looking for everything. I’m looking for the one thing that doesn’t make sense to me right now.
I concentrate solely on the tingling of the silver trying to tease out his individual body parts trying to find one that I can examine without removing his clothing. The confusing thing is, it’s literally everywhere. I can’t find a single place on his body that doesn’t have silver. Finally I hit his forearms. I didn’t realize it before but it’s there as well. It’s not as heavily concentrated but it is there.
I pull back slowly as such a long read is physically exhausting and coming out too fast will cause me to pass out. It’s as I’m backing out that I feel the wound near his neck. It also tingles like silver but at a much lower rate. As soon as I’m back I move my hand from his neck to his head, offering him comfort as I know strong submission responses make my reads quite difficult to handle.
“Cole, I need to see your arms. My initial read is correct. You have silver all over your body as well as in it but I have to find the source of the silver or the binders will only draw out the withdrawal process making it painfully slow and much more deadly.”
My ability to relax him has proven almost detrimental as he’s barely able to keep his eyes open. Alpha notices the change and starts stepping in to help.
“Damian,”
“Yes, dad?”
“Come hold this phone. It’s still recording. The council doesn’t like interruptions like this in a statement but it was necessary and I feel that with Cole on the verge of unconsciousness I need to help Jessa find her answer.”
He walks over quickly, not waiting for his father to finish his explanation. Alpha immediately gets behind the chair gently pulling Cole back against him. I lift his arm, carefully looking it over but I don’t immediately see anything silver related. It’s as I’m going over his other arm that it finally dawns on me what I’m looking at.
“Alpha, have you or Dr. Pierce done a full physical on him?”
“Are you allowed to ask questions when doing an official read?”
“Yes Damian, if there is something that would provide clarity to her read she’s allowed to ask. She just can’t ask him to remove his clothes. Yes, Jessa. I did a full physical Wednesday evening in addition to the injuries that we started finding on him Tuesday.”
“These cuts on his arms, are they elsewhere on his body?”
“Yes. They’re quite deep in some places.”
“I’m talking everywhere, alpha. His chest, abdomen, back, butt, the backs and fronts of both thighs, even his, his….”
I can’t even get the word out as I’m in shock as to what I’m feeling.
“Yes Jessa, even his genitals.”
I sigh deeply as I gently trace one of the angry, red lines across his forearm. He whimpers softly as he barely has the energy to tug his arm away from the pain I’m producing. Although the line is thin, I can still tell that it’s a bubble with small amounts of fluid inside. The sudden realization of what I’ve found is breathtaking.
“Alpha, are there any indicators as to what this bruising bordered by two red cuts was made by?”
“On his back there’s a few stray marks that end in what appears to be a buckle.”
“Like a belt?”
Alpha nods his head as I desperately try to conclude anything but what this seems to be.
“Alpha, these cuts are not cuts.”
My voice wavers as I begin to verbalize what I’m feeling. He cocks his head waiting for me to continue.
“They are burns. Whoever did this, beat him with a belt lined in high purity silver.”
I can feel the shock rippling through the room. I guess no one thought of that as a possibility but it’s the only conclusion that I can make.
“Jessa, at this point I need your recommendations for treatment. Were you able to tell what kind of silver withdrawal he’s in?” I nod silently.
“There’s a wound near the base of his neck. It feels long, like a needle was used to go deep into his chest. At the bottom of this wound I can feel a large concentration of low purity silver. There were chemicals added to it that are making it very easy for this concentration of silver to leak into his blood as it is very close to his heart.
You will need to use an ultrasound to locate the silver and an epidural needle to aspirate the silver out. Failure to find it and remove it will be fatal. He will ultimately need to go under general anesthesia for that procedure as well as the others that I’m going to recommend.”
“Keep going, Jessa. I need to know what he needs.”
I can feel the tears starting to drop from my eyes as I struggle to continue with the medical interventions he needs beyond the standard blood tests.
“While he’s sleeping, all of the blisters that are bordering the bruises need to be scraped off. They are holding fluid containing high purity silver against his skin giving both the silver and infection ways into his body.
The wound on his left thigh will need to go through several debridements to scrub the infected and burned tissue out of the wound.
Lastly, considering he’s developed septicemia, a spinal tap should be performed to check for meningitis. I recommend taking care of the silver first as the binders will have little effect on stopping his crash if any trace of the silver feeding the poisoning of his body remains.
The debridement of his leg and spinal tap should be done during a separate surgery. His best chance at survival is admittance to Crimson General’s ICU. Without proper treatment, Cole’s ability to survive both blood poisoning and silver poisoning is less than 25%.”
I can feel the tears falling fast as I admit to what I could never hear from another about my mate.
“Jessa, look at me.”
Alpha’s voice is gentle but heavily concerned. I simply can’t bring myself to do it. I turn away from the two of them as my tears fall. I may not have been ready to meet my mate but I most certainly am not ready to lose him now that I have. As weak as my wolf is, the bond is still there. It’s been years since I’ve felt her but he’s attracted her attention and it doesn’t matter what he’s done in his past, she wants him.
“Jessa, I understand you’re upset. This isn’t anything any of us could have predicted but he needs you Jessa. He’s a really hard stick and terrified of everything medical. I want a second IV in his left arm. We also need to go ahead and get the catheter and feeding tubes in place before we transfer him.
I need you to do the second IV. His left arm is scarred worse than his right. After that you can chart what’s being done until we transfer. We need to head back there. I have no interest in your dire prediction happening.”
I nod my head as I try to gather myself mentally. Blood work and IVs tend to be a specialty of mine and if he is a hard stick then I’m the best one for the job.
“I’m heading back to the medical wing. Damian, I need your help.”
I hear Damian jump up from where he was sitting as I listen to alpha start wheeling Cole out of the room. For the first time in a long time I reach out to the one being that put me in this mess. I bow my head and close my eyes as I make a silent prayer to the moon goddess above. She’s the one that takes one soul and divides it, placing each half into two separate bodies. Soulmates, two people perfect for each other destined to find each other in an imperfect world.
“Do not take my mate from me.”
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